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An Israeli soldier was killed and two were lightly injured Thursday morning when a bomb exploded near them in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Palestinian witnesses said that some 10 tanks and two bulldozers backed by helicopters moved before dawn nearly 500 meters into farming fields near camp.

The Israeli forces were patrolling the area when an exchange erupted between them and Palestinian fighters.

During the fighting at Bureij, at least two Palestinians were seriously wounded by an Israeli airstrike on the scene, Palestinian medical staff and the army said, according to Reuters. An Israeli military spokeswoman said forces were operating in the area to "foil terrorist actions."

The Palestinian reports said the two wounded fighters were members of the Islamic Jihad.